Self Leadership

By Camille Smith • May 17th, 2013

We complain.  Oh, not you, of course, just those other knuckleheads. At work, our complaints sound like … “Bill’s cluttered workspace drives me nuts!”, “I wish Mary would stand up for herself, she makes all us women look bad.”, “The boss never says anything to the Sales guy when he’s late to meetings, but he [...]

Dumping-off.  We ask others to do stuff for us all the time – stuff we don’t want to do, don’t have the time to do, and couldn’t do even if we had the time.  We drop our suits off for pressing (a task we can’t do), our car for an oil change (a task we [...]

Hi, I’m Camille and I’m an extrovert. (Hi, Camille.) I confess that from time to time I’ve overlooked the talents that introverts have to offer. I’m reforming. On a recent flight, I read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. I picked it up because in my [...]

Exhausted by being connected 24/7? Worried you’ll be seen as a slacker if you don’t answer every email within 14 minutes? Tweeting, liking and pinning multiple times a day because you don’t want to miss anything? One ‘yes’ = this message is for you. (If someone hands you this column, thank them, then read it. [...]

Over the last year, I’ve learned a lot about communicating with the human voice. How did I do this? By hosting an Internet Radio Show on BlogTalkRadio. Prior to the Internet radio experience, I was asleep at the vocal chord wheel, so to speak.  I used my voice each day, took it for granted, and didn’t [...]

The best advice I’ve received about dealing with criticism was delivered by my mother. I was about twelve-years-old and my feelings were hurt. After listening to my story of woe, she said three words that caught my attention, spun me around, and changed my life. Her words were: “Consider the source.” Since then, this simple phrase, [...]

I’ve never had a problem accepting a compliment, so it came as a surprise to discover that many people find this basic interpersonal skill challenging and uncomfortable. After a bit of reflection, I decided that cultural orientation aside, accepting compliments is second nature to me. Why? Because I don’t try to figure out the reason [...]

(This article is part of a series originally published in Japan by ALC Press English Journal, and is written in “Global English”. CLICK HERE to see the accompanying video, spoken in “Global English”.) QUESTION:  “My subordinates are younger than me, but they seem much more global-minded. I know I need to change, but I’ve never worked abroad, and I’m [...]

(This article is part of a series originally published in Japan by ALC Press English Journal, and is written in “Global English”. CLICK HERE to see the accompanying video, spoken in “Global English”.) QUESTION:  “My biggest problem is I lack the confidence to take on more responsibility at work. Now I’m watching less qualified people get promoted, and [...]

It’s impossible not to judge. Telling someone else “not to judge” — shows you have made the judgment that they are judging. Most opinions, descriptions, decisions, views, rulings, and critiques are judgments.

I know this sounds strange, but I used a diet tip that I read from Micheal Thurmond’s “6 Day Body Makeover” – to accomplish career critical tasks.

I received the below great question a few days after my Art of War for Product Managers and High-Performing Professionals.  I thought you might be interested in the answer as well. Q: Many senior employees work under my lead. In this case, many other senior employees think that what a lucky me. Jealousy is coming [...]

If you know how to drive, you already understand project management. You may still not want to be a project manager, but at least you understand better their function and value. In fact, project management and defensive driving have much in common.

Most everyone is familiar with Pro and Con lists to help make a decision. Often times the Pro and Con List does very little to clarify the decision – because – well – the reason you are creating the Pro/Con list is because it was a ‘close call’ to begin with. We don’t go to the trouble of making a Pro and Con list on ‘no-brainers’. Often times the pro and cons are pretty equal – making the decision still difficult. Our mistake is that we stop at this point. We don’t take the next step to reduce the impact of the “Cons”.

Delighting Your Customers! By Dr. Shree Nanguneri Ever thought about a time when a salesman, provider or a vendor asked you if you were delighted with their product and/or services?  Probably, much less often than you wished.  By the same token, do you recall your customer or manager complaining about a Defective product or a [...]

Can you recall a time when you and another person shared an experience, but at the end you both had completely different stories about what happened? Maybe you saw a movie with a friend and when talking about it afterward you realize they came away with a totally different take on it. If you’re like [...]

The topic of leadership is on the forefront of most, if not all, organizations these days. It’s one of the most talked about and yet least understood topics in the business world. Today I entered the generic term “leadership” in a Google search and it came back with more than 462,000 results. When I changed [...]

One of my core beliefs is that we are most happy when we feel we’re making progress in our lives. It’s painful for us to remain stagnant in life. In fact, growth is not an option; it’s a necessity. Grow or die. That is the biological imperative that all living organisms experience. “Without continual growth [...]

In our discussions and writings about what it takes to be a complete project manager, co-author Alfonso Bucero and I believe personal skills are an important element in building a potent “molecule”. Complete project managers want the satisfaction of knowing they are making the most of their potential. Successful project managers usually have a winning [...]

As a business coach, I sometimes receive late requests to change an appointment. Because of my busy schedule, it’s not easy to accommodate these types of last-moment requests. In my professional life, I easily handle this with my cancelation and refund policies. But how do we handle similar things in our personal and social lives? Well, I recommend that we respond in similar tones.

I recently received a question regarding “How do you transition from a consulting job back into management?”. This is a great topic, because the answer is useful whether you are moving from a consulting job back into IT, or management; OR moving from any field to a different career.